The Quokka
Darling View graduates primed for big payday in The Quokka
Paul Symes
ANZ News
With a pair of Darling View Thoroughbreds graduates contesting The Quokka (1200m) alongside another leading contender sired by the farm’s resident Playing God (Blackfriars), Saturday’s $5 million contest at Ascot represents the perfect opportunity for the Atwell family to showcase the premium quality of stock they consistently produce.
In a wide-open renewal of The Quokka, the Darling View-bred duo of Luana Miss (Bivouac) and West Star (Playing God) both appear capable of repelling the annual eastern seaboard raid on Western Australia’s most lucrative; and the local brigade is further bolstered by the presence of another speedy son of Playing God in Rope Them In, who bids to build on his last-start Roma Cup (Gr 3, 1100m) success.
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The talented trio all tuned up for their tilt at the lucrative slot race in the Roma Cup, and while the spoils ultimately went the way of Rope Them In – who registered an eighth stakes success for Playing God this season – both Luana Miss and West Star were placed in the forgive file after encountering serious traffic in the home straight.
Victory for any one of the three would represent a seismic result for the farm although stud manager Brent Atwell, who followed his father Clive and mother Trish into the family business, openly confesses a slight leaning towards Luana Miss – not least as Darling View retained a share in the Trevor Andrews-trained filly.
The market also agrees, with Luana Miss on the fourth line of betting at $8.50 while Rope Them In and West Star have both drifted from their respective opening quotes of $17 and $26 as punters home in on the chances of interstate raiders Jigsaw (Manhattan Rain) and Caballus (I Am Invincible).
“Not a lot of horses have that type of speed, but if you want to be at the top end of the scale in the sprinting ranks, you really need it. Trevor [Andrews] has done an amazing job with her, she’s really matured into a more professional racehorse because she was quite highly-strung in the early days
Atwell readily concedes that, given their spate of success in the Group 1 arena, the pair thoroughly merit their status as joint favourites but he is equally adamant the locals are no forlorn hope, and is growing in confidence that Luana Miss can become the first filly to win the race – provided she finds clear running room.
“Luana Miss has that point-to-point speed which only the really good ones have,” Atwell told ANZ News.
“Not a lot of horses have that type of speed, but if you want to be at the top end of the scale in the sprinting ranks, you really need it. Trevor [Andrews] has done an amazing job with her, she’s really matured into a more professional racehorse because she was quite highly-strung in the early days.
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“I like a filly with attitude, but I was slightly concerned that might be her undoing. She did have some moments in her two-year-old campaign when she got a little overwhelmed, but Trevor has put a lot of work into her and we’re seeing the benefits of that.
“Unfortunately with her racing pattern we will see a lot of hard-luck stories with her, as was the case in the Roma Cup. In her last six starts I think she’s been mentioned in every stewards’ report, because she does often find a bit of trouble in running. But if she gets the right run on Saturday, I do think she can be really competitive.”
The Atwells purchased Luana Miss’ dam Little Bit Ditsy (Bel Esprit) in foal to Bivouac (Exceed And Excel) for $160,000 at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale in May of 2022. Some four months later, Luana Miss took her first tentative steps on the family’s spacious 400-acre farm in Mundijong and the diminutive filly subsequently fetched $110,000 at the 2024 Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale.
Given the early prowess she had shown at home, allied to Atwell Jnr’s admiration for Bivouac as a racehorse, Darling View brokered a deal to stay in the filly and, like their canny acquisition of Little Bit Ditsy, it has proved something of a masterstroke with Luana Miss winning four of her eight career starts and amassing more than $500,000 in the process.
“We’re always looking to improve the quality of our broodmares and our purchase of Little Bit Ditsy has definitely been one of the highlights,” said Atwell, who will be trackside at Ascot on Saturday afternoon.
“The mare was a very nice sort, and I thought she would suit our market over here in WA. The pedigree attracted me and I love having Bel Esprit in the family to inject plenty of speed. She’s not an overly big mare and the family doesn’t tend to produce big stock, but they can certainly run fast as we’ve seen with Luana Miss.
“I really loved Bivouac as a racehorse, his turn of foot was outstanding and he’s passed that onto her. We had high hopes for the filly but she’s definitely exceeded our expectations so far. The dream would be to bring her back to the farm once she’s finished racing, but on the other hand I’m also hoping she’s too valuable for us to buy her outright. It’s very hard to buy well-performed fillies off the track and add them to our broodmare band, so we often look to retain a share in some of the better-bred fillies we take to the sales – and we’re very glad we made that decision with her.”
No doubt they will take a similar approach to Luana Miss’ half-sister, who according to Atwell is built in a similar mould to her celebrated sibling and will be going through the sales ring next year.
She was sired by Playing God, who has taken the Western Australian breeding scene by storm since Darling View acquired him in June 2020 following the closure of his previous residence, Mungrup Stud.
His meteoric rise to become the state’s pre-eminent stallion has seen his service fee elevated to $49,500 (inc GST), but the Atwells will resist the temptation to cash in on his ever-increasing reputation by maintaining that figure for the upcoming breeding season.
Playing God’s profile would certainly be elevated further if either West Star or Rope Them In could spring a surprise in The Quokka. Little went right for West Star during his eastern odyssey last spring, when his trainer Simon Miller elected to pull up stumps on the four-year-old’s campaign after two lacklustre runs in Melbourne.
He regained some of his previous zest with an impressive trial outing last month and after a luckless run in the Roma Cup, Atwell is hopeful for a change of fortunes on Saturday when West Star lines up in The Quokka for the second time, having finished seventh – beaten just over two lengths – by Jokers Grin (Maschino) 12 months ago.
“We haven’t seen his best for a while but if he can get back to the form he showed leading into The Quokka last year, then he’d be in with a real chance,” Atwell told ANZ News.
“He’s a great talent and we also raced his dam [Jester Derriere], West Star was her final foal and it looks like she saved the best for last. Whatever happens on Saturday, it’s a privilege to have two horses we bred lining up in a race worth $5 million. I’m sure we’ll have a great day out no matter what, but it would obviously be a dream come true if either of them could win the race.”
